Are you the type of airline passenger who, when your hand luggage goes through security, tries to peer all the way into the machine, just to check that nothing will be tampered with?

You may have good reason to do so, if a story from Florida holds up in court.

According to WSVN-TV, a Transportation Security Administration worker allegedly had a systematic scheme for removing passengers' electronics and selling them on Craigslist.

You bought it on Craigslist? Do you wonder where it's been?
CC LWY/Flickr

In one incident, Broward County Sheriff's Office says that Nelson Santiago, 30, allegedly removed an iPad from a passenger's suitcase and then, well, stuffed it down his pants.

This was allegedly witnessed by a Continental Airlines employee at Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport. In total, Santiago is alleged to have stolen around $50,000 worth of passengers' possessions over a six-month period, mainly gadgets of one kind or another. In one case, he is alleged to have stolen a GPS.

He has been charged with grand theft and apparently no longer works for the TSA.

It may well be that those who offer vigilant surveillance at our airports need themselves to be vigilantly surveilled.

About the author

Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world.
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